


A Little Visitor

by duchessofthemoonbase



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Babies, F/M, Fluff, Post-War, Warning for those with delicate ovaries, canon timelines be damned, just gratuitous baby yoda fluff because its a cruel world out there guys, parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-25 04:42:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21690334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duchessofthemoonbase/pseuds/duchessofthemoonbase
Summary: A small, green, big-eared child comes to visit Rey and Poe on their farm, and things will never be the same.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Rey
Comments: 27
Kudos: 168





	A Little Visitor

**Author's Note:**

> I love baby yoda too much...thank you to i_said_goddameron for putting the image of Poe carrying baby yoda in a sling into my head, which annihilated my ovaries and then of course I HAD to add it to this.

“I still don’t know,” Rey said, snuggled into Poe’s chest. “I need more time.”

“Of course, sunshine,” Poe replied, kissing her forehead. “No pressure though, it’s just a thought.”

“I know,” Rey said, and she believed him. Poe would never pressure her into having kids if she didn’t want them. She knew that.

But Poe wanted them—and she could tell. She could tell in the way he cared for BB-8 and D-O like they were his own kids, and the way he smiled when he talked about his own childhood. Or the way Kes always smiled at them like he was waiting for something.

But Rey wasn’t sure. It had been three years since the war ended, and two since they had been married, but she still found it so hard to trust that things would stay in place. Her life these days was happy and stable, although not quite as exciting. She loved waking up and working with Poe on the Dameron farm—the lush green of Yavin 4, the evening walks with Kes, the visits from Finn and Rose where they ate koyo melons on the porch and laughed about old times. But she had been through a lot. Something deep inside her couldn’t quite trust any of it. It felt like any moment the danger and upheaval could return. And had this galaxy ever really known peace? How could she bring an innocent being into such a mess?

And what if something happened to her and Poe? What if that child found herself like Rey once was, lost and alone?

She couldn’t bear to think of it, so she cuddled deeper into Poe’s arms, and fell asleep.

***

There was a noise coming from the kitchen.

Rey and Poe sat up in bed, squinting through the first hint of dawn through the curtains, when they heard it again. It sounded like pots and pans being moved around.

“It’s probably just some creature that got in,” Rey said. “Let me go look.”

Rey grabbed her staff, (still a constant companion of hers, though maker knew why, considering she so rarely used it) and tiptoed into the kitchen.

She saw nothing, until she looked to the ground.

“Oh,” she said. “Hello.”

The creature was only a foot tall, with green skin, big, imploring eyes and equally massive ears. If fact, he looked like a much smaller version of Master Yoda, who Rey had seen pictures of in some of the old Jedi texts. He wore a tiny burlap outfit and was in the middle of rifling through their dishes, presumably looking for something to eat.

“Is everything okay?” Poe called from the bedroom.

“Yes,” Rey said. “It’s…it’s a child.”

Poe got out of bed and wandered over, and he broke into a smile the second he saw who had been making all of the commotion.

“Hey there, little guy,” Poe said, kneeling down so that the child could see him. “Are you doing okay? Do you need something to eat?”

The child cooed in response and Poe picked him up, cuddling him to his chest. “Let’s make you some porridge,” Poe said. “How does that sound?”

The child lifted his tiny hands as Poe set him down to make the porridge. He was glowing in a way that Rey hadn’t seen since he was flying his x-wing on the regular.

“Where do you think his parents are?” Rey asked, immediately concerned. “Is he alone?”

Poe frowned. “It looks like it. But we can take care of him for a few days until his parents show up, right?”

Rey hesitated for a second, but that old feeling of abandonment came over her with a creeping guilt, and she knew the only answer was yes.

***

It was the height of the harvest season, and there was no time to be dawdling around with a baby. Rey, Poe, and Kes needed to be out in the fields working, and so Poe came up with a solution. He made a sort of sling out of some old cloth and tied it around his shoulders, carrying the baby close to his chest.

“There you go, little buddy,” Poe said, making sure the child was nestled comfortably. “Ready to go pick some koyo melons?” The baby cooed and rested his small head against Poe’s chest, still napping in the early light of the morning.

Rey smiled as they walked out to the fields, where Kes was already waiting for them. “Well, well,” he said, approaching Poe. “Who is this? He certainly has your ears.”

“Pa…”

“He wandered into our house,” Rey explained. “We don’t know where he came from, so we’re going to look after him for a while.”

“Huh,” Kes said, leaning on his cane. “The force works in mysterious ways, no?”

After working for a hour or so, Kes took a break, playing with the child in a patch of grass as his son and daughter-in-law continued to work. The child toddled in circles around Kes, who laughed as he watched him chase after bugs and frogs.

Poe was watching carefully from the corner of his eye. “Don’t let him eat anything weird, Pa,” he said. “Some of those frogs might be poisonous.”

“Don’t worry, son,” Kes said. “I’m keeping a close eye on him.”

Rey noticed that Kes had a twinkle in his eye as he watched the child play. No doubt his mind was on the days when he and Shara Bey had worked these fields; a tiny boy named Poe giggling and running in circles around their feet.

***

Rey made a simple dinner of bread, rice, and vegetables from the garden for them to eat after work. Poe put some of the rice and vegetables in a bowl and spoon-fed the baby, who had more of an appetite than either of them expected.

“You’re good at this,” Rey said, watching as the child moved his big ears in Poe’s direction. “He really likes you.”

“You think?” Poe said. “I hope he does.”

“I just hope he hasn’t been completely abandoned,” Rey said, and at that Poe turned to her and held her hand.

“Let’s hope he’s not, sunshine,” Poe said. “And if he was, we can take care of him. Or Kes will. Or some nice family from the village. We’ll make sure he’s okay. I promise.”

Rey nodded quietly, and Poe pulled her into his arms. “And you’re not alone either,” he said, kissing her softly. “And you won’t be ever again.”

That night, Rey goes to bed early, and falls asleep to the sound of Poe rocking the child to sleep, the soft strains of old Yavinese lullabies falling from his lips.

She wakes up smiling.

***

“I need to run into the village to run some errands,” Poe said the next afternoon. “Are you okay watching the kid for a while? If you’re not I’m sure I can leave him with Pa.”

Rey freezes and puts down her cup of caf. “Sure,” she said. “I can handle it.”

“Good,” Poe said. “You haven’t had much time alone with him anyways…and I can tell he likes you.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Nah,” Poe said as he grinned and kissed her on the cheek. “I liked you from the moment I saw you, so why wouldn’t he?” Rey smiled as Poe grabbed his bag and went out the door, leaving her with the small, wide-eyed creature staring expectantly at her from the floor.

“Hello,” Rey said.

The baby tilted his head and moved his ears, and Rey laughed. He really was cute—cuter than most of the human babies she’s seen, actually. And the fact that Poe is so fond of him only endears the child to her even more.

Soon he is reaching his little arms out and cooing, and Rey senses that he wants to be picked up, so she takes him in her arms. She is astounded at how tiny he is, and warm, and how he gazes at her with such trust and affection, despite her being a near stranger.

He reaches up to touch her cheek with one of his hands, and she feels it—a connection, an energy lighting up deep within her…

This child is strong with the force.

“Who are you?” Rey whispers, and suddenly she feels fear, and an urge to hold him close and never let go.There is no such thing as a safe and happy childhood for a force-sensitive child left all alone. She knows.

Rey shakes off her fear and puts the child down. “Would you like to see the garden?” she asks, and the child slowly toddles out the door after her.

Rey leads him to the garden, which she and Poe planted when they first moved here after the war. Poe had mostly planted fruits and vegetables to supplement their diet, but Rey, still enchanted by the beauty of nature for its own sake, had planted all sorts of Yavinese wildflowers around the perimeter of the garden.

The child giggled as he played among the flowers, some of which were nearly as tall as he was, and Rey laughed as he was startled by a beetle flying out of the grass. He was lovely, this tiny creature; and so delighted by everything he saw, even with the perpetual little frown he always wore. She couldn’t turn away from him. Rey almost didn’t notice when Poe came back from the village, carrying supplies.

“You two seem happy,” Poe said, putting down his haul and kissing his wife. “Did he behave himself?”

“Perfectly,” Rey said, and as if on cue, the baby suddenly ripped an orange and green flower from the ground.

“No!” Rey scolded, but the child only waddled towards her, his frown more prominent than ever and his ears moving in the breeze.

The child presented the flower to her with one of his tiny hands, and Poe grinned.

“I think it’s for you, pretty lady,” he said with a wink, and Rey couldn’t help but smile.

***

Rey cannot sleep that night.

She’s wide awake, with Poe snoring contently beside her, as the baby rests just outside the door in a makeshift cradle they made from old boxes and blankets.

She cannot sleep because for the first time in a long time, she feels something restless in the force—something shifting and changing and biding it’s time, the forces of the universe in constant motion around her. She slips out of bed and walks to the cradle, the baby slowly opening his eyes as if sensing her presence.

“Hello again,” Rey whispers, picking him up and holding him close to her. “Can’t sleep either?” The baby moves his ears, and Rey’s heart skips a beat.

She carries him with her to the front porch of the farmhouse, where the two of them look up at the stars. The child is captivated, and Rey knows for certain that he is destined for great things.

But then Rey remembers that this child is not hers to keep, as far as she knows. His real parents could return any day now, if he’s luckier than she was. She already feels such affection for him. Not just for the child, but for the new energy and excitement he brings to the farm. The way he makes Kes beam and the way Poe carries him around in the sling, smiling at him adoringly while he worked.

 _But what if something happens to you,_ Rey thinks, interrupting herself, thinking of all the people she’d met—people who lost their children to war and darkness, children who had suffered. _I couldn’t bare it,_ she thinks. _Poe couldn’t bare it. Sure everything is peaceful now, but what if—_

It is then that she swears she hears Luke’s voice, coming from somewhere among the stars.

_This is what we fought for. What we died for—Love. If you cannot have it after all this, then what, then, was the point of it all? This, this right here, is yours._

She meets the child’s eyes, and she feels peace.

Rey feels something beginning, and feels something in her heart set itself solidly into place. She has made a decision about what she wants, and smiles with delight when she thinks of the possibilities ahead.

She and the child sit on the porch staring up at the stars, watching and waiting until they completely fade away with the sun.

***

A week later, during dinner time, there’s a knock at the door. It’s almost always Kes, so of course Poe is surprised when he opens the door to an imposing Mandalorian in gleaming armor.

“Can we help you?” Rey asks from her chair, and when he turns towards the child, she feels her heart break a little.

“Yes,” he said, his voice morphed by the helmet. “The kid is mine. He wandered off a few weeks back.”

The child nearly squeals in delight when he sees the Mandalorian, who props him up lovingly on his shoulder. It’s a strange sight indeed, but it’s obvious that the child knows and loves him.

“I hope he didn’t cause too much trouble,” the Mandalorian said. “I can’t thank you enough for taking care of him.” He places a pile of credits on the table, which he only slides back towards Poe when he tries to refuse them.

“It’s not a problem,” Poe said. “We enjoyed having the little guy around.”

“Good,” The Mandalorian said, and Rey and Poe both stand up, taking each other’s hands as they approach the child, who is cooing softly on the Mandalorian’s shoulder.

“Bye, little buddy,” Poe said, patting him gently on the back, and Rey can hear his voice cracking.

“Thank you,” Rey said, smiling up at child, and he looks back, tilting his head and moving his ears in silent understanding.

And then they are gone.

***

That night after dinner, they are lying in bed, the house oddly quiet without the child’s presence.

“Poe,” Rey whispers, stroking his arm. “I have an idea.”

“Yeah?”

“I think we should have a baby,” Rey says, her eyes shining.

Poe hardly believes her when he hears it. “Really sunshine? You really want to? You mean it?”

“Yes,” Rey said, kissing him with delight. “I think I was scared of loving something so much…but the child…he made me realize I should strive to love as much as I can.”

“You were scared of loving me once,” Poe said, stroking a finger down her cheek. “But you did it anyway.”

“And I thank the maker every day that I did.”

They lie there for a while, smiling at each other in the dark, and Rey feels a beautiful sense of calm—the peace and joy of a family beginning.

“Hey, so,” Poe says. “You know our baby isn’t gonna have those ears, right?”

Rey bursts into giggles and falls back into her husband’s arms, love and excitement stirring in her heart as she falls asleep.


End file.
